Western Kentucky woman charged with father’s murder has new warrant for her arrest
Editor’s note: The bench warrant for Cheryl Bennett was recalled after this story was published, according to online court documents. Please see our latest coverage here.
A daughter charged with the murder of her father in Barren County has a new active warrant out for her arrest after she allegedly failed to comply with bond conditions for a second time.
Cheryl “Leighanne” Bennett, 46, was indicted on a murder charge for the death of her father, Michael “Mickey” Logsdon. Bennett’s mother, 71-year-old Donna Logsdon, was also indicted on a murder charge in January 2023 by a Barren County grand jury. They are alleged to have turned off and on a machine that assisted with Michael Logsdon’s breathing over the course of five hours, causing his death.
Both women have been out of custody since January while their case moves through the court system after a family member posted their bail, according to court documents. For much of that time, the two have been on house arrest at the home where the murder allegedly happened, court documents say.
On Monday, an active warrant was put out for Bennett’s arrest for “probable cause of a bond violation,” according to court documents. This would be the second time Bennett has violated her bond conditions.
Bennett and Logsdon’s attorney, Johnny Wade Bell, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Special prosecutor Jason Rothrock and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office have not responded to requests for comment either.
In April, Bennett violated her bond conditions when a mandatory drug test came back positive, court documents show. She went to jail for a month before she was sent to a treatment center in Georgia, court documents show.
Donna Logsdon was staying in the home, and placed on an ankle monitor. Logsdon’s ankle monitor was removed in May after she completed a court monitoring program, according to a court document filed in the case and provided to the Herald-Leader by one of Logsdon’s daughters, Terri Jo Harris.
Harris is seeking justice for her father while coming to terms with the arrest of her mother and sister.
“It is different watching it, different living it, and it is different being a victim of it,” Harris told the Herald-Leader. “These are all people that were supposed to be looking out for him.”
She said she has concerns about her mother and sister being released on bail.
Daughter: Victim was a farmer, fan of WKU sports
Michael Logsdon was killed July 9, 2022. His cause of death was listed as “asphyxia, suffocation,” according to court documents.
He was diagnosed with ALS in 2021 and required a BiPAP machine to help him breathe, court documents state. Harris said he needed to use the machine 24 hours a day.
Dr. Amy Burrows-Beckham performed the autopsy and determined Michael Logsdon died as a result of his breathing-assist machine being turned off and on, according to court documents.
Harris, who said she took care of her father continuously, described her dad as being “like Mayberry” – always nice and happy. Michael Logsdon was a farmer, a fan of Western Kentucky University sports and technology, Harris said.
Harris said her dad never missed a day of work in 37 years. After retirement, Logsdon was active in the community and “always building something.”
But after his ALS diagnosis, he required constant, round-the-clock care, which Harris said she and her immediate family were happy to take on. A caretaker was also hired to work two nights a week.
“I was two people when I took care of daddy – I was him, and I was me,” Harris said. “He couldn’t do anything but talk and we talked a lot. I am so thankful that I was able to do that but it is so hurtful that I wasn’t allowed to see him through it because it was so important to me.”
The night her dad died, Harris had gone home and thought the caretaker was going to be arriving at the home. Harris said she found out later that the caretaker was told to take the night off around midnight.
Harris said she woke up to missed calls from her mother and was told her father had died.
“I was not dealing with the death of my father, but dealing with the murder of my father,” she said.
Harris immediately knew something was not right, and contacted Glasgow police. Harris said data from the breathing machine showed it had been turned on and off in prolonged intervals. Glasgow police declined to comment on the case or knowledge of Bennett’s whereabouts on Tuesday afternoon.
“It is very important that it wasn’t just turned off – it was turned off and on and off and on in increasingly long increments,” Harris said. “People think of it as a mercy killing, but what they actually did is so heinous, it makes people more comfortable to think it was a merciful act.”
Logsdon and Bennett’s next scheduled court appearance is Sept. 25.
This story was originally published September 12, 2023 at 12:30 PM.
